India

India's fuel demand rose 2.8 per cent in August compared with the same month last year but was at their lowest level in nine months.

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Consumption of fuel, a proxy for oil demand, totalled 17.04 million tonnes, its lowest since last November, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry showed on Wednesday.

Sales of gasoline, or petrol, were 8.9 per cent higher from a year earlier at 2.57 million tonnes.

Diesel sales fell 1.1 per cent to 6.12 million tonnes, its first year-on-year percentage decline in nine months.

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Cooking gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sales surged 13 per cent to 2.40 million tonnes, while naphtha sales increased by 3.7 per cent to 1.15 million tonnes.

Sales of bitumen, used for making roads, were up 23.8 per cent, while fuel oil use edged lower 15.9 per cent in August.

India revised down its fuel consumption for July to 17.68 million tonnes, an increase of 3.9 per cent from the previous year, its biggest year-on-year percentage gain since January.